Dear Old Donegal - Hardcover

John O'Brien is a well-known NEW YORKER cartoonist. For Clarion, he has illustrated DEAR OLD DONEGAL

PreSchool-Grade 4?A picture-book version of a song written in the 1940s. O'Brien has taken Graham's original lyrics and fleshed out this charming account of a successful immigrant's return to his homeland. The lyrics tell of young Patrick McGuigan, who sails to New York in search of wealth and actually does strike it rich. In his prosperity, he returns home to visit. But the years have clouded his memory and he must rely upon his mother to reintroduce many family members and old friends. Children will love listening to and memorizing the litany of rhyming Irish names as well as singing along with the narrator. Piano notation and guitar chords (not on the endpapers, thank goodness!) are included, as well as notes about the song's origin and history. Through his distinctive illustrations, O'Brien adds personality to the narrator, especially when his young hero sails off alone to an unknown country and during those early lean years. The illustrator's smiling but hollow-eyed characters look like cheerful cousins to characters created by Edward Gorey and Victoria Chess. His pen-and-ink curlicues and pointillistic watercolors go on to reveal almost the whole of Ireland out to welcome their successful compatriot and celebrate his return. Great crowds of these green-clad folks play, sing, and dance their ways back into Patrick's heart and into the hearts of readers, too. Stock up for Saint Patrick's Day!?Jeanne Clancy Watkins, Upper Merion Township Library, King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.